The Renewable Energy Sources Act of February 20, 2015 – regulations concerning RES in Poland influence the development of energy storage technologies, as energy storage systems can be a key element in the efficient use of energy from renewable sources.
The Energy Law Act of April 10, 1997 – regulates issues related to the production, distribution, and storage of energy. Key legal aspects concerning energy storage include, among others, licenses, tariffing, and energy security.
Licensing issues: Activities related to energy storage may require obtaining appropriate licenses, which is a process regulated and supervised by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO).
Integration with the grid: The integration of energy storage systems with the existing network infrastructure may require special arrangements and the fulfillment of specific technical and legal conditions.
Taxes and fees: Taxation issues related to energy stored in storage systems and fees for using the grid may affect the profitability of projects in energy storage.
An important aspect of the development of energy storage is also its environmental impact. Each type of storage system can have negative ecological effects, both due to the materials used in its construction (the acquisition or release of which can cause contamination) and the necessary landscape transformations (e.g., in the case of pumped-storage power plants). To avoid exacerbating the ecological crisis, when designing energy storage systems, one should consider not only their efficiency but also minimize their harm to nature.
A significant obstacle hindering the broader use of energy storage systems remains the costs – both those associated with the construction or production of the storage system, and its operation. Although in many cases these costs are decreasing, they are still significant from the perspective of an individual investor.
Many people choose to use renewable energy sources (RES) even on a micro-scale, within a household. This requires adapting the entire energy system to a situation where, alongside a few large, steadily operating power plants, there are numerous sources that supply energy irregularly. The primary problem in such a configuration is the local and nationwide surpluses and shortages of energy fed into the grid. The choice of an appropriate system depends on the location, energy source, costs, and the anticipated environmental impact. Legal regulations are also important, as they can either facilitate or hinder the large-scale implementation of specific solutions.
Energy storage is treated differently under Polish law – sometimes as storage, and other times as a generation unit. The acceleration in the construction of energy storage systems is driven by contracts concluded within the framework of capacity market auctions, indicating investor interest. However, network operators and the administration are not prepared for this.
The current version of the Energy Law Act provides a regulatory framework for activities related to energy storage. However, it does not include provisions regarding the requirements for the construction and operation of energy storage systems. The regulations do require the registration of energy storage systems over 50 kW, which allows for better monitoring and management. For the market, it is crucial to introduce appropriate definitions, regulations concerning ownership, and the elimination of double regulation of business activities. It is also essential to remove double taxation burdens. It is important to define what can be accumulated and under what conditions in flexibility and system services (e.g. value stacking). An example could be the total value of services such as participation in the automatic power reserve (aFRR) and providing services for the distribution system operator (DSO) in the afternoon hours.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above matter, please do not hesitate to contact our experts:
Piotr Włodawiec: wlodawiec[at]prokurent.com
Łukasz Moczydłowski: moczydlowski [at] prokurent.com
Paweł Wróblewski: 'p.wroblewski [at] elbudbis.pl
Authors:
Piotr Włodawiec – Attorney-at-law / Senior Partner
Łukasz Moczydłowski – Attorney-at-law / Senior Partner
Paweł Wróblewski – CEO ElbudBis
Relkonds
Material prepared in collaboration with:
